Carlyle JV sells Miami-Dade self-storage portfolio for $100 million
An entity tied to William Warren Group just paid $100 million for three self-storage buildings spread throughout Miami-Dade County. Property records show CRP/Westport Self Storage Dixie, a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and Westport Properties that operates as US Storage Centers, sold the buildings. The self-storage facilities are located in Kendall, North Miami and North Miami Beach. Records…
Berkadia Arranges $45.8M Acquisition Loan for Apartment Tower Along Miami River
Berkadia has arranged a $45.8 million bridge loan for the acquisition of River Oaks Marina & Tower, a 199-unit apartment community located along the Miami River at 1951 N.W. S. River Drive in Miami. Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone of Berkadia arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan through a correspondent life company on behalf of the buyer, a Miami-based real estate investment firm.
Sunny Isles Beach’s ultra high-end condo market has a big inventory problem: report
Sunny Isles Beach is saddled with 17 years of inventory of condos priced at $5 million and up, and overall, Miami-Dade County faces nearly five years of supply of high-end units, according to a new report. Of the 348 units listed for sale on the Southeast Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service as of Aug. 31, about 30 percent, or 103 units, are in Sunny Isles Beach. Based on the six recorded sales between…
PMG nabs $106 million loan for downtown Miami rental tower
Property Markets Group secured a $106 million loan for X Miami, a recently completed rental tower in downtown Miami. Pacific Western Bank is providing the financing, which will be used to pay off an existing $80 million loan for the 32-story, 462-unit building at 240 Northeast Fourth Street, according to a press release. Centennial Bank was PMG’s construction lender. PMG’s Andrew Warman, Jonathan…
Why title insurance firms are paying close attention to the latest Russian sanctions bill
A U.S. Treasury Department program that spotlights anonymous real estate purchases in a number of gateway cities could become a nationwide law if a Russian sanctions bill is passed. The little-known provision in the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2018, a bipartisan bill introduced to the Senate last month, would force title insurance companies to report the…
Neil Hasu Shah: Grows the 50-hotel empire of Hersha Hospitality Trust
As president and COO of Hersha Hospitality Trust, Neil Shah manages a portfolio of 50 hotels totaling 7,666 rooms in South Florida, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, select West Coast markets and Washington, DC. Mr. Shah, who in 2006 took over his family’s business with his brother, CEO Jay Shah, has since 2000 led the acquisitions, development and asset management for the company, founded in 1984 by…
North Miami’s Chinatown works on incubator linkup
North Miami’s Chinatown is working on a collaboration among the city, Trinity Church and the business school at Johnson & Wales University. This project, which will manifest physically around the end of this year, is to be an entrepreneurial “incubator” in the Chinatown corridor, said North Miami City Manager Larry Spring. The space could also include a welcome center for investors, visitors and residents…
Lagging North Beach moves closer to ‘renaissance’
The Miami Beach Town Center – a North Beach area that hasn’t had significant development in 25 years – came one step closer to its “renaissance” last week when the city commission managed to pass two resolutions allowing for taller buildings while setting standards for planned micro-residences. The plans sparked controversy, with Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez calling the changes “a classic…”
Is it curtains for Coconut Grove Playhouse revival?
For years now, as preservationists have fought Miami-Dade County’s plan to redevelop the Coconut Grove Playhouse as a 300-seat theater and as uninvited third parties have pushed their own plans, the county has responded by pointing to its long-term lease of the historic property from the state. But now the county is in real danger of losing its control of the playhouse, as the state has threatened…
Miami orders Virginia Key marinas operator to vacate
The City of Miami is ordering the operator to vacate the Rickenbacker Marina on Virginia Key. It’s the latest move in a years-long controversy over who will run the city-owned site. City commissioners took the action Sept. 13, with a plan to have city employees temporarily take over operations while they prepare to award a contract to a new private company to redevelop the marina and the…
Alabama investor buys Shalimar Motel in MiMo
The Shalimar Motel on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s MiMo District will get a facelift after selling for $6.3 million. Sandip Patel, a hotel investor from Alabama who recently moved to Miami, just bought the 49-room motel at 6200 Biscayne Boulevard, said Ahmed Kabani of Marcus & Millichap, who represented Patel. Robert Bhat of Marcus & Millichap arranged a $4.1 million loan from U.S. Century Bank to…
OSHA fines contractors of FIU bridge that collapsed
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the contractors involved in the Florida International University bridge that collapsed earlier this year, killing six people. OSHA fined Figg Bridge Engineers, Munilla Construction Management, Bolton Perez & Associates, Structural Technologies in Homestead and the Structural Group of South Florida $86,658 for seven worker-safety violations…
South Florida’s largest multifamily investment sales in August
Large out-of-state investors are continuing to see value in South Florida’s multifamily market. In August, a number of institutional investors bought apartments at a significant markup from their previous price.The largest sale of the month was the $71.3 million deal of The Latitudes at the Moors, an apartment complex that TIAA purchased near Hialeah. Many of the top deals are for properties outside…
Wells Fargo expects CRE lending to decrease while bank copes with fallout from scandals
Wells Fargo expects its book of commercial real estate loans to shrink as the bank struggles with governance issues. CFO John Shrewsberry said during a conference Friday that he expects commercial real estate and industrial loans to fall from second-quarter levels, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shrewsberry pointed to the bank’s deliberate lending discipline and a…
Lissette Calderon returns to the Miami River with $61 million deal
Developer Lissette Calderon closed on the River Oaks Tower & Marina for about $61 million with plans to renovate the waterfront apartment building. The deal marks Calderon’s return to real estate after leaving the Related Group in 2016, and to the Miami River, where she developed Neo Lofts, Neo Vertika and other buildings dating back 15 years. Calderon’s firm, Neology Life, closed on the 199-unit…
Site of planned office project in Coconut Grove hits the market
The development site of a planned office project in Coconut Grove just hit the market. LointerHome principal Marco de Souza is looking to sell the 21,000-square-foot development site at 3151 Southwest 27th Avenue for $5.5 million. De Souza and his partner Amanda De Seta planned to build 27@Lincoln, a five-story, 68,000-square-foot Class A office building with ground floor retail space and an…
Mixed-use Causeway Village project moves forward in North Miami
Taubco’s Causeway Village project is back on track after more than five years in the works. Nearly two years after the developer secured the OK from a North Miami planning commission, the city’s town council greenlit the same land-use amendment, allowing the mixed-use project to keep moving through the approval process. It’s the first step to include the parcel in a district just west of a zone that allows…
No Announcement, But Jeff Bezos Still Says Amazon HQ2 Will Be Decided By Year-End
More than 1,000 D.C. business leaders were on hand Thursday evening in the hopes of hearing a big announcement from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, but the richest man in the world declined to give any new information on his company’s search for a second headquarters. “We will announce the decision before the end of this year,” Bezos told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. “We’ve made tremendous…”
Developer unveils short-term rental condo project near Dolphin Mall
Rems Group Inc. just unveiled plans for Residences at Dolphin Citi Center, a Doral condo project set to rise between Dolphin Mall and International Mall. Robert Lechter, a partner at Rems, said the 113-unit, eight-story condo building will allow short- and medium-term rentals with a minimum three-night stay requirement. The project is planned for a nearly 4-acre lot on the southwest corner of 108th…
Miami-Area Developers Use Condominium Terminations to Deal With Land Shortage
Modest or shabby condominiums in downtown Miami and across the surrounding region are proving to be ripe for redevelopment as builders try to cope with South Florida’s land shortage. The builders are using so-called condo terminations, also known as de-conversions, to acquire a majority of the units in older buildings so they can transform the structures into…
Home builder DR Horton adds to its growing presence in South Dade
Home builder DR Horton bought vacant lots for 32 houses near Homestead, adding to its presence in south Miami-Dade County. The Arlington, Texas-based builder paid $3.04 million for the land at the northeast corner of Southwest 308 Street and Southwest 192 Avenue in South Dade. Garden Developers LLC, run by Sergio Guardazzi, sold the land for a price that breaks down to $95,000 per lot. Garden…
After 123 years, Henri Bendel is closing its doors. And it’s leaving a lot of retail space behind
Amid sluggish sales, Henri Bendel is closing all 23 of its departments stores. Parent company L Brands announced Friday that it would be shuttering the luxury store after 123 years, CNN reported. Its 23 stores will close after the holiday season in January 2019. The move is an attempt “to improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential,” including Victoria’s…
David Edelstein paying $32 million for properties in Wynwood’s 5th Ave
David Edelstein is spending about $32 million to buy a large assemblage on Fifth Avenue in Wynwood that he eventually plans to develop into a mixed-use project, The Real Deal has learned. The New York developer is acquiring nearly two blocks on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 26th and 28th streets. The assemblage totals about 74,000 square feet, or 1.7 acres, of land. It’s near Goldman…
Brightline Gets All the Attention, But Tri-Rail’s Going Into Downtown Miami Next Year
South Florida’s new, privately run train, Brightline, grabs all the headlines (just yesterday, it announced it would run a route between Southern California and Vegas) but the region’s workhorse commuter line has its own triumph: It will be expanding into downtown Miami next year. A new 9-mile Tri-Rail route, called the Downtown Link, should be operational by Q3 2019, Tri-Rail spokesperson Bonnie Arnold…
Avra Jain, with Dragonfly Investments, picks up another MiMo motel
A partnership between Avra Jain and Dragonfly Investments just picked up a motel in the MiMo District – not too far away from Jain’s Vagabond Hotel. Property records show Jain’s Gold Dust 7700 LLC paid $6 million for Motel Blu at 7700 Biscayne Boulevard, a two-story, 60-unit building next to the cabaret nightclub Gold Rush. The deal breaks down to about $100,000 per room. Jain wrote that she and…
West Flager Associates wants a gambling venue in Edgewater, but the city wants more oversight
Miami officials moved closer to preventing owners of Magic City Casino from opening an Edgewater gambling venue that would include a jai alai court and poker room, following resident outcry over the proposal. City commissioners voted 4-1 on first reading Thursday to authorize the Miami city manager and planning department draw up changes to the Miami 21 zoning code. That new measures would…
Student-Oriented Apartments Near UM Fetching $3.95/SF Rents
The average price per square foot for rent in Florida is $1.31, according to Apartment List. But in Miami, a boutique co-living venture geared toward students is getting as much as $3.95/SF. Orduna Court’s upscale units near the University of Miami are commanding high rents. Orduna Court, at 800 South Dixie Highway, is a 24-unit co-living property within walking distance of the University of Miami. Here…
SoFla’s biggest retail property sales in August
Commercial real estate heavyweights Blackstone Group and Stiles Corp. recorded the two priciest retail trades in South Florida in August. Another notable trade last month involved a former Toys “R” Us building in Plantation. That sale was part the company’s efforts to unload 284 of its stores after filing for bankruptcy a year ago. Overall, the retail market in South Florida has…
Booming Office Market, Soaring Apartment Rents Give Miami Developers Justified Optimism
Miami’s office market is going from strength to strength, according to Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Vice Chairman Brian Gale. “Overall, the market is very strong,” said Gale, who represents office landlords. “Some submarkets are certainly stronger than others, but we’re seeing close to single-digit vacancy for all of Miami. And the one important thing to know is there’s been a plethora of new-to-market…
The end is near: Downtown Miami’s condo cycle will likely end this year, report shows
After a more than eight-year run that changed the Magic City’s skyline, Greater Downtown Miami’s condo cycle is likely nearing the end. The Downtown Development Authority’s mid-year report, prepared by Integra Realty Resources, suggests that the cycle is coming to a close as Miami’s urban core has yet to see a new condo project break ground so far this year. The average resale prices for condos fell…
TA Realty pays $92 million for industrial portfolio in Hialeah Gardens and Medley
Hialeah’s industrial market is showing no signs of a slowdown. TA Realty just paid $92.25 million for a ten-parcel industrial portfolio in Medley and Hialeah Gardens. Miami-based commercial real estate firm Cofe Properties sold the nearly 932,500-square-foot portfolio.
Property records show Cofe bought the assemblage in 2013 for $48.3 million. South Florida’s industrial market remains strong, and…
Luxury Condo Glut Forms in Downtown Miami, Suburbs
Downtown Miami isn’t the only area in Miami-Dade County saturated with luxury condominiums, a sign buyers may be seizing control of the softening market. Sunny Isles Beach, an upscale suburb in the northeastern part of the county, has almost 600 units listed for sale at $1 million or more, according to Condo Vultures Realty, a brokerage and consulting firm. With an average of nearly 12 condos selling…
Residential On the Way at Signature Development Near Miami
Construction is due to start this month on the first residences at Dania Pointe, one of the largest mixed-use developments under way in metropolitan Miami. The first 264 of 600 apartments at Avery Dania Pointe will likely start leasing late next year and be ready for occupancy in 2020, said Stuart Meyers, chairman of project developer Meyers Group. The $800 million Dania Pointe is just off Interstate…
Video: David Madson of CBT Architects on Office Design’s Impact on a Company’s Profitability
David Madson, Principal with CBT Architects, appears on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how the office design a business employs can impact its bottom line. Boston based CBT refers to itself a leading design firm working locally, nationally and internationally in the areas of architecture, interior design and urban design. In the video, he discusses wellness considerations…
Sale Of 2.31 Acres Negotiated In Doral
DiGiacomo Group’s Patricia Marquez negotiated the sale of an industrial land parcel totaling 2.31 acres, or 101,059 square feet, located at 10405 NW 19 Street in Doral, Florida. Buyer Inter Dolphin Property, LLC. purchased the parcel from Rarity Builders, LLC, for $2,675,000. The deal closed July 31, 2018. Marquez represented the buyer in the transaction. “The absorption rate of industrial land in the City of Doral…
Israeli firm to buy SunTrust parking garage in downtown Miami for $18M
Crocker Partners plans to sell a parking garage near the SunTrust International Center in downtown Miami to Tel Aviv-based Mishorim Development Group for $18.5 million, according to documents filed with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Crocker Partners bought the 31-story SunTrust building and the seven-story garage for a combined $82.4 million in 2011, according to property records. In May, it sold…